Rikishi in Paris highlights: Yokozunas Hoshoryu and Onosato having fun with baguettes @sumokyokai, Takanosho enjoying a croissant @sumokyokai, Mitakeumi is less impressed with French food @mitakeumi_kouenkai_official IG, Kirishima & Koseiryu went on a side quest to Chamonix @kirishima_f.a IG

After particle physics and astronomy, STFC's large facilities are next at risk for cuts: www.theguardian.com/education/20...

My next project: meniscus root tear recovery. Stage one: six weeks non weight bearing…

NEW from me: today I've written another piece in our @isrfoundation.bsky.social series on the destruction of British Higher Education. What's it like to live under the threat of redundancy? Read all about it here: isrf.org/blog/what-do...

What Leads to Administrative Bloat? It's an interesting paper, based on a very simple model. The authors also suggest various ways in which this burden could be reduced. The problem with that is that there is no incentive at all for The Management (who hold all the power) to improve the situation,…

Watching clouds:

Grateful to the 14 Fellows of the Royal Society for their letter to the Times against proposed cuts to of Nottingham Physics and Astronomy. "Killing a goose that lays golden eggs is a short-sighted response to difficulties paying for goose feed." www.thetimes.com/comment/lett...

Spending bank holiday Monday recovering from my first migraine in a decade. Looking on the bright side, I made it home before the vomiting started, and there's lots of footage of one of my favourite rikishi (Wakatakakage) winning the yusho yesterday to catch up on.

Wild camp site. My plan to read lots of books was foiled by wind and broken reading glasses. But I met lots of good sheep.

In an attempt to find solitude without covering long distances on foot, I'm off to the Yorkshire Dales for some wild camping (legally, thanks to CampWild).

“It takes years of dedication to build up a world-class reputation. I worry that it can be destroyed much more quickly.” - Antonio Padilla on proposed cuts to the physics department at @uniofnottingham.bsky.social. Story by my colleague @michaelbanks.bsky.social 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/nottingham...

Drove across the Peak District without stopping even once to take photos of sheep for my gallery: anne-green.net/personal/she...

Uncomfortable, but important, reading:

(Corrected) table showing proposed academic headcount reductions at UoN. Still just as unjustified and drastic as before.

Escaped to the coast for the weekend:

An industrial fused-quartz resonator, to complement my existing hand-worked hammered metal resonators (which have more complex inharmonic spectra). Or in non-Physics language, a ‘crystal’ singing bowl to complement my Himalayan metal bowls. #physicsofsound

Physicists: please consider signing this open letter of support: nottinghamphysics.github.io/Open_Letter/ The University wants to cut a third of academic and related staff from the School of Physics and Astronomy.

Nottingham job cuts ‘pose systemic risks to research’, union warns. Research-intensive university told it risks “intellectual stagnation” as 2,700 staff put at risk of redundancy. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

New: Lack of planning for university failure risks ‘lasting blow’ to R&D. Excoriating education committee report on HE finances warns government is not prepared for university insolvencies, with worrying implications for students and academics. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Favourite feisty small rikishi, Fujinokawa, in excellent form on day 1 of the basho:

Attempted to cheer myself up by (virtually) riding a kids bike dressed as a dinosaur (on top of the shitshow that is British academia, the knee injury that’s stopped me running for the past year is a meniscus tear which probably isn’t repairable…).

Given how much academia incentivises self-promotion, it’s no surprise that sometime exaggeration tips over into pure invention www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

5.45 am alarm this morning, to make sure I'm in the office for the start of an all-day online committee meeting. And in the lunch break from that meeting, I'm chairing another in-person committee meeting.

A colleague said that the reason funding has got more competitive in the UK is due to increased grant costs, meaning less to go around. A quick crunch of the numbers to see if they have a point. 🧪 New Value: increasing cost of UKRI research grants quantixed.org/2026/04/22/n...

After watching Wu Yize beat Hossein Vafaei at the Crucible we now get to see the end of Higgins v. Robertson (it might be a late night…).

The Peak District isn’t the Arctic, but solitude can still be found if you know where to look.

My university hasn’t reached this level of clarity yet. Managers tell themselves it’s all going brilliantly *because* they’ve sacked so many people.

Voice of Victim "I asked a senior administrator what’s causing the University budget deficit 'Research & teaching,' he said, 'both lose money, not financially viable' I said, 'Funny, then, we weren't losing money in the past when central administration was half the size' "

While cleaning out a cupboard I found the results of the 1997 Taunton marathon. It had a 4h 30 cut off, 153 male finishers and 15 women. I was last woman in 4h 18 (which is still my PB…) with a dozen men behind me.

Pondering future adventures…

I think this says a lot about the pressure STFC is under: its budget will not have risen (in cash terms) between 2023 and 2030 Inflation is obviously going keep eroding that, and more so with the Iran war (Details of STFC budget figures over the spending review have not been published before now)

I haven’t yet had time/energy to write a proper blog about the Lapland Arctic Ultra. So for now I’ve written some short snippets to try and capture the experience while it’s still fresh (thanks to the OH for the original version of the spoof newspaper report). anne-green.net/personal/blo...

Had been planning to spend today writing a blog about my Arctic adventures. Instead, I've written (in a personal capacity) to my MP, regarding factually incorrect statements that have been made regarding cuts to postdoctoral research positions, in particular in theoretical particle physics.

This is pure 1984: Lord Vallance promises that there will be no reduction in UK particle theory postdoc numbers from ~20 per year. The actual number awarded in the last round in 2022 was 58. committees.parliament.uk/publications...

In a letter to @chionwurah.bsky.social the Science Minister states: "~20 particle physics theory post-doctoral researchers [are] funded by UKRI each year." That’s not typical; that’s the post-cut baseline from 2026. The previous cycle supported ~60. Framing this as “normal” obscures a ~70% cut.

Reaching the finish line of the 500km Lapland Arctic Ultra, this time 2 weeks ago. Feels like a million years ago now, and I yearn for the simplicity of pulling my pulk through wilderness. (Photos courtesy of Callum Joliffe.)

A random story: Once upon a time, an Air Koryo flight I was on to Pyongyang had a minor crash landing. As some of the passengers (understandably) panicked, one of the cabin crew told us that 'nothing has happened'. Meanwhile, the pilot could be seen unfurling the emergency escape chute.

Enjoying some R&R back in Jockfall. It’s ~30 degrees C warmer than when I first arrived here 2 and a bit weeks ago!

The contrasts of my last 4 sleeping places: a storage cupboard at a checkpoint (escaping from the snorer in the communal sleeping area), Polar circle cabin, an old farmstead, and back in civilisation post finish.

And done. One of the toughest but best things I’ve ever done. There were various moments (over the last 10 days/8 months) when I thought it wasn’t going to be possible.

Breakfast! I have become a human eating machine.

Stunning views crossing a frozen lake last night. And the trail was firm and fast too, which made a nice change from slogging through wet snow (at one point the night before Pulkee and I were doing 1 mph).

Day 4 and the going is slow due to slushy snow. But (for now) I’m still going.

Today has been camping and fire lighting practice. Plus, in a classic example of Swedes not knowing how rude some English words are, (the theory of) ‘how to shit in the woods’.

Northern lights!

Arrived in Jockfall for the pre-race training course

Arrived in Lapland (and my pulk has made it too):

To my great relief my pulk is checked through to Lulea and I’m relaxing airside (Manchester T2 is much nicer than it used to be). Thought my power banks and huge stash of batteries would cause issues at security but it was actually the 500 calorie meal bars which got a close inspection.

Off to Sweden tomorrow, for the Lapland Arctic Ultra. My bags are packed and the pre-adventure blog is written (anne-green.net/personal/blo...).